Snow's 60G Secret Predatory Sanctum 🐲🐉 - Shutting Down

[debbeach13]

Stunning specimen! 

Picked up a daum's reef lobster from the store today.

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

8 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

Stunning specimen! 

Picked up a daum's reef lobster from the store today.

 

Thanks! Deb, do you think she'd do better in the 60G though? I'm torn 50/50 on moving her to my 10G QT (a tank which I was originally planning on stripping down since I'm not interested in purchasing anymore fish - plus can cut down on electricity too), or trying her out in this 60G. 

 

She seems very antsy to get out of the box and explore though. I *think she'd love going all over the rockwork. All my fish seem disinterested in her, even though they can see her clearly through the box. My lions are still stuffed from the shrimp I gave them. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Alright, more in-depth reading suggests that it's not a good idea to leave the lobster with any of the lions - no matter how small the lions are. I guess she'll go into the 10G downstairs. Just need to WC that tank and clean it up a little, then she should be good to go!

 

In the meantime, I'll try dropping some frozen food and a bit of pellets in the box and see if she takes to it. 

 

Also need to scrape the glass of the 60G. The new snails are already hard at work - should have picked up another two more. 😅

[debbeach13]

I am glad you are going to put the lobster in the 10. Placing it in the 60 sounds risky.

[Snow_Phoenix]

8 hours ago, debbeach13 said:

I am glad you are going to put the lobster in the 10. Placing it in the 60 sounds risky.

Yep. The more I read about other people's experiences, the more hesitant I am over releasing her in the 60G. Most of the time, the lobster gets eaten during molts. Best not to risk it. 

 

I'll try to WC the 10G today, if possible. Quite excited to release her in it once the tank is ready. 🥰👍

[Snow_Phoenix]

Well, now I'm definitely 110% moving my lobster to her own tank. 😅

 

 

 

 

^Lady's the one on the top of the box. Check out her side eye! 👀

 

Also, here are the 2 new corals I acquired yesterday:

 

 

 

I think I'll move the kenya tree to a better spot on the left side of the tank - where most of the other leathers are gathered. 🤔

 

Also, here's Lily. 🥰

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

I spent around ~2.5 hours cleaning up & doing a 12G WC on this 10G nano today morning/early afternoon. (Double WC to flush the system, hence 12G of water used)

 

 

 

It's not super perfect and looks very basic, but I think it should be fine for 1 elusive critter. Once the macro in the fuge grows out again, I'll try to transfer some caulerpa over to this tank. 

 

This nano has been up and running since last year. The rocks went through a diatom phase long ago, but algae was nil because I kept the lights off for months (only turned it on when it was hosting my clownfish). The tank is primarily a post-QT-observation tank, but since I'm not QTing anymore fish, I decided to convert it as a home for the lobster. 

 

As for now, she's still safe in her breeder box in the 60G:

 

 

 

But I'll acclimate her this evening to the nano and move her to her new permanent home. 

 

Also, I decided to name her Heracles, even though it's a dude's name. For some reason that name stuck in my head, no matter how much I tried to revert it to Hera. 😅

[Snow_Phoenix]

Moving Hera to her new home *tomorrow instead. Too tired today. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Both happy and elusive in her new home. 🥰

 

 

 

 

She pinched me when I moved her from her breeder box to an acclimation cup though! 😅🦞

 

The lights are quite bright - too bright for a lobster. Thinking of turning it on *only when I need to feed her. 🤔

 

Also, I had a very old tiny backup wavemaker that I was planning on using for this tank. But it was not working, so I had to bin it. Already planning on purchasing a new small wavemaker online. 

 

Flow is necessary in this tank - the motor pump in the sump is too weak, and already there's a fine layer of dirt at the bottom of the tank. 

 

I tentatively have no plans to add more livestock to this tank, but that *might change down the road, and I *might either add a RBTA or a trio of mini maxis. Strictly no corals though! 

 

I think we all know that I do have a problem with overstuffing nanos with corals, and once the first frag goes in, I can't help but add more. 😅

 

So best to avoid all temptation at all costs. 🙅‍♀️

 

This tank is relatively low-maintenance otherwise. A small biweekly WC of 3G with the occassional iodine dosing and daily feedings of pellets or wet food should be more than enough for a single invert. 

 

She's a stunner, though! 🥰🦞

 

Also, back to the 60G, I scraped the glass & basted the rocks, and ended up displacing a new layer of sediment everywhere. 🤦‍♀️

 

However, I did manage to transfer my new kenya tree as intended. It's still moody, but I'll give it time to perk up. The new brown toadstool bounced back super-quick - full PE today. 

 

I think...I'll skip out on the LPS and switch over purely to a softy route. I'm already hunting around for more leathers at the store & trying to collect softies that I don't have yet. 😅

 

*Might add shrooms, or might not. Who knows? 🤷‍♀️

 

I also spotted 2 very healthy and pellet-trained flame angels at the LFS. Stunning little guys, but also super expensive. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Six leathers and counting! 🥰

 

 

 

Red pineapple tree coral:

 

 

 

Brown toadstool:

 

 

New purplish-pink kenya with mild PE, subject to Hawke's approval. 😅

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Neon green kenya tree:

 

 

 

Weeping willow toadstool:

 

 

Green neon-polyp toadstool leather:

 

 

Cynarina puffing up again. 👍

 

 

Chunky hawkfish. 🥰

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

New kenya tree has better PE today. 🥰

 

 

 

Brown toadstool leather with full PE:

 

 

Longer polyps on this one today too:

 

 

Leather corner:

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Lions! 🥰

 

 

 

 

 

FTS today afternoon. Taken under heavy whites + blues with yellow lens filter:

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Fishies. 🥰

 

 

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Corals. 👍

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

My venomous ladies. 🥰

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

New kenya tree finally showed some nice PE today. 🥰

 

 

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Have some bad news. 😔

 

Cleo the copperband died some time overnight, but I only noticed it today evening. After I removed the sandbed, I noticed she begun losing weight. I tried various types of food, but she simply wasn't interested in anything prepared, and constantly circled the rocks. 

 

After the most recent WC, in which I siphoned out a lot of leftover dirt pockets and sand, she thinned out rapidly to the point of emaciation. Two days ago, she stopped hunting for live pods and simply swam in one corner of the tank. 😔

 

I really did try, but given how difficult it is to get copperbands onto prepared, I was surprised she lasted as long as she did. 

 

I truly miss her. She was very bold and constantly poking her snout into my rocks. And she was a beautiful fish too. 

 

Am letting my tank sit for a while. 😔

 

R.I.P. Cleo. 😔🌺

[debbeach13]

I am so sorry. She really was gorgeous!

[Snow_Phoenix]

14 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

I am so sorry. She really was gorgeous!

I know. My mum agrees too. 😞

 

It's a bit strange. Usually copperbands will eventually go after live shrimp - it's how my LFS gets them feeding as well (dropping in live ghost shrimp at the store). She was eating liquid brine at the shop though - I remember, because I watched her go for it for quite a while.

 

But after putting her through hybrid-TTM, I think she was quite stressed and as soon as she went into my tank, she only ate live pods. My refugium is teeming with live pods, but even that wasn't enough for her. 😞 

 

The tank feels 'empty', although there are some decent-sized fish in there. Can't truly explain it.

 

When I'm ready, I'll keep an eye out at the LFS for 2 more new possible additions. A blenny would most likely be on the list (and yeah, I'm aware I said I wouldn't add anything else a few posts back, but the tank just looks...off). 

 

I'll just wait and let things settle down again. For now, I'm observing the new kenya tree. It's growing quicker than I expected. 

[Xj reefing]

This morning I had to euthanise my mollie as he kept swimming upside down and was breathing heavily. I all so didn’t want him to die in my tank whilst I am on holidays. It truely does suck to loose a fish that you loved and especially one that was a prominent part of the tank.

[Snow_Phoenix]

29 minutes ago, Xj reefing said:

This morning I had to euthanise my mollie as he kept swimming upside down and was breathing heavily. I all so didn’t want him to die in my tank whilst I am on holidays. It truely does suck to loose a fish that you loved and especially one that was a prominent part of the tank.

I'm sorry to hear about your molly. I had to euthanise my fish (FW) twice in the past, and it truly wrecked me each time I did it. 😔

 

I absolutely loved my copperband - heck, I love all of them in the tank, including the 3 surviving feeder mollies which didn't get eaten, but are now a part of my tank. It does suck a lot to lose any animal, actually. 

 

I'm...unsure if ever I'll try a copperband again. Unless it came from another reefer's tank and is already stable & eating, maybe, but I think it's best I give these beauties a miss for now. 😔

[Snow_Phoenix]

Took a few shots today. 😊

 

Pink kenya tree: 

 

 

 

 

Red pineapple tree:

 

 

 

 

Brown toadstool:

 

 

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Neon green kenya tree:

 

 

 

 

Various softies:

 

 

Foxy. 🥰

 

 

FTS today on 30/9/22:

 

[Ratvan]

Love that long polyp toadstool at the back 😍 and the lurker in the Kenya Tree shot 🤣